


Sometimes Love Is Forever

by lovefindhope



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Coffee Shops, Fluff, High School, M/M, Marriage, Marriage Proposal, Mary's Song, No Sex, No Smut, Park Ranger Harry, Teacher Louis, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2018-03-11 06:53:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3318104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovefindhope/pseuds/lovefindhope
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is seven and Louis is nine and Harry looks at Louis like the stars that shine in the sky .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Verse 1

**Author's Note:**

> Because both growing up together fic and future fic cause me excessive pain, and I have an unhealthy obsession with Mary’s Song, and I’ve seen Louis compared to the sun but never the stars.

Harry is seven when he and his family move.

  
It’s just him and his mum and dad. The tiny little Styles family, looking for a nice country town with a good school because Harry is about to start primary school and they don’t want him in the hustle and bustle of London; no, the tiny little country town of Doncaster is perfect for them.

  
They move as soon as preschool lets out for summer holiday. There are lots of boxes and a big van and Harry wants to ride in the back but no, he’s going to get hurt. He gets impatient in the car and he colours his whole colouring book and his mum puts on a Stevie Wonder CD and he falls asleep.

  
When he wakes up, they’re pulling a right past a store called Hummingbird General Feed and wow, it’s really the country.  
They’re at their new house within fifteen minutes and Harry jumps out and runs across the grass and tries a cartwheel but falls, but he’s laughing laughing laughing because they have grass and lawn and he has space to run and he thinks this is the best day of his life.

  
(This isn’t the best day of his life, but he’s seven and silly and new and free, and he can think what he wants right now but if you asked him ten years from now he would say the best day of his life is his first kiss by the levy and ten years from then he would say his wedding day but he’s not sixteen or twenty seven or forty three, he’s seven and he just moved and he likes running around and his favourite Disney princess is Ariel.)

  
He has to help bring boxes out of the moving truck when his dad pulls up ten minutes later, but only the light ones because he’s only seven and not very strong.

  
That night he sleeps on a mattress on the ground and doesn’t take a bath because “Where did the bolts go?” and “I can’t find the soap.”

  
The next day, Harry wakes up early and explores the property and “Holy cricket Mummy, we have a real live barn!” and they find the bolts but not the soap or the shampoo so he and his dad go to Horan General Supply and buy some. The owner Bobby checks them out and welcomes them to town and they find out a family called the Grimshaws used to live in their house and they moved to London, isn’t that a funny coincidence?

 

  
When they get home, a shiny sky blue pickup truck is parked in the house-end of their long gravel driveway. Laughter comes through the open kitchen window and when he enters through the white-screened back door, there’s a lady in the kitchen and a little boy is sitting on the one barstool Harry’s dad had time to put together before they went out. Her hair is dark brown like chocolate and his is the colour of caramel and before Harry can make any more observations he’s hearing “oh there you are Harry this is Miss Tomlinson and her son Louis” “oh call me Jay” and he’s saying “Hi Miss Jay I’m Harry nice to meet you” and her son is hiding behind her leg and she’s saying “Louis Tomlinson you are nine years old come say hi to Harry” and Louis says “Hi I’m Louis” and Harry says “I’m Harry” and that was how Harry first saw the eyes that were probably maybe most definitely stars, and somehow the world keeps revolving and Harry keeps breathing and Things are still happening.

Somehow his mum doesn’t notice his shock, and if she does she doesn’t acknowledge it.

  
“You’re neighbours now Harry the Tomlinsons live right up the road Harry the house with the blue trim Harry why don’t you take Louis outside to play Harry? HarryHarryHarryHarryHarry” but his mind keeps going LouisLouisLouisLouisLouis as they run outside and the boy with the night sky in his eyes is asking him to race to the barn and to refuse would be like stepping on a puppy so of course he agrees.

And he’s not sad when he loses because the boy says “I like you you don’t push me down to win like Nick used to Nick was mean you’re not mean” and he smiles big and his eyes crinkle and Harry doesn’t get it but is he looking at a boy or the stars in the sky, the bright shiny ones that look like fireflies, for he’s certain Louis’ eyes are the pretty lights that twinkle like a house at Christmas and he hears himself saying “good” because he’s glad the boy with star-eyes likes him.

  
A week later, Harry and Louis are already HarryandLouis, never one without the other, if you call one the other will be with him. They’ll play checkers all day in Louis’ tree house or play superheroes in Harry’s real live barn, and his mum and dad are glad to have him out of the way for once, and by the end of the week they’ve unpacked most everything, including the soap.  
On Tuesday, Louis tells Harry how his dad sometimes watches wrestling on the T.V. and says sometime he’s going to try out some of the wrestling moves on Harry.

  
(He never does. He never, ever hurts Harry, except for next Friday when he pushes him into the creek, but he only meant for Harry to get wet, he swears, but Harry scrapes his knees on the rocks, and Louis jokes that he should kiss them better, and Harry says I dare you, then runs away on his freshly skinned knees when Louis tries, and then they end up walking back to the house and Louis lets him win at checkers. So.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly Harry's not a little kid (but Louis' eyes are still pretty lights)

Seven years later, Harry’s fourteen and just beginning his growth spurt, but for now his legs are too long and his voice is too deep and he trips a lot. Louis teases him about it but gets mad when other people make fun of him, which is really confusing for Harry.

Meanwhile, Louis is sixteen and happy that he met Harry because imagine going through life without your best friend to support you. His eyes still shine like stars and Harry considers himself lucky to be Louis’ best friend.

They spend a lot of time together that summer, the summer of fourteen and sixteen. Louis has his licence and a “new-to-me” truck that’s blue and a little rusted but the bed is the perfect size for two teenage boys to eat lunch or play checkers or trade secrets or memories of when the creek still held water in the summer. 

(And Louis parks the truck not too far from the spot he once pushed Harry in, and they both wonder if anything would have been different if Louis had taken Harry up on his dare to kiss him.)  
The next two years pass in a blur. All of a sudden, Harry's growing into his feet and hands, and Louis starts picking him up in the mornings for school because they go to the same one now.

But then it's Louis' junior year and he starts getting serious about grades and going to study sessions and making new friends and seeing Harry less and less. And that's okay, Harry tells himself, because Louis isn't his whole entire world (anymore) and he can make new friends, too, it's not as if he expected Louis to be his best friend forever or anything, he knows he isn't super cool or anything, he just misses Louis sometimes is all.

Then, all of a sudden, it's summer break and Louis is coming over to Harry's house for a barbecue and they hug for a long time and Louis is saying "you grew into your hands! wow harry when did did you get so tall? I haven't seen you in forever sixteen suits you how are you" and Louis is blushing why is he blushing.

Harry says "I'm fine thank you, how are you eighteen suits you" and now they're both blushing but for different reasons, Harry's fairly sure, and he's reminded all at once how in love with Louis he was. Still is. 

They fall back into their easy banter as if it has been a day and not a year since they had a conductive conversation. They eat hamburgers and pig out on Doritos and become best friends (again) within an hour. It all gets Harry wondering what it was that got in the way of their friendship in the first place. 

Soon enough, they're done with dinner and Louis is asking if he wants to go for a drive, and of course he's saying yes. Louis' "new-to-me" truck, a gift for turning eighteen, sits in the driveway. Harry hops into the familiar passenger seat, and Louis gets behind the wheel and they drive and drive and drive. 

 

It turns into a thing, getting into Louis’ car and going driving. Whether it’s two o’clock in the morning or 8 in the evening, someone will text someone and Louis will pull up in that same rusty blue pickup truck, Sometimes Harry is allowed to take the wheel, and Louis directs him around trees, out of mud puddles, and down to the creek where they used to play as children. 

They kiss. It’s inevitable. They’ve both been in love since before the age most kids even know what love is. It happens on a day that is otherwise unremarkable, except for the kiss. It happens by the creek (but, then again, everything happens by the creek). There’s a tree and a truck and a boy, and there is love. 

With the first kiss comes the first fight. Looking back, neither Louis nor Harry would have been able to tell you who started it, or even what they were fighting about. What they will be able to tell you, however, is that Louis stayed outside of Harry’s house until sunrise, refusing to leave until Harry agreed to talk to him and try to work it out.  
( Harry did eventually come down, but he falls asleep in the bed of Louis’ truck.) 

The only people surprised to find out about Harry and Louis’ relationship is their fathers.  
“I never thought you guys would actually do it.”  
“Do what?” Harry asks his father inquisitively.  
“I dunno. Admit your feelings for each other, I guess. I mean I used to joke about you two getting married and all, but-”  
“Wait, wait, wait. Nobody said anything about getting married. We’re just…” Harry smiles, a soft, private smile. “You know. Dating. And stuff.”  
“And stuff,” his father teases. “Just- he better treat you right, okay? Or he’ll get more than just a stern talking to.” 

And everything was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i kind of literally just dashed this off because I was feeling inspired, and I don't have a beta for this, so if there are any weird formatting/grammar/spelling errors please let me know! Thanks for reading!  
> [tumblr](www.savior-savior.tumblr.com)


	3. Verses 3 and 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few years had gone and come around

A few years later (5, to be perfectly precise) they’re sitting at their favorite café. It’s about 4pm on a Wednesday and Harry’s on his lunch break from his job at the ranger’s station (it’s been less than a year since he was certified, so he’s working odd hours), and Louis came straight from the elementary school to meet him. 

“What?” Harry asks after noticing the looks Louis keeps giving him over their shared croissant. 

“Nothing,” Louis answers. “Nothing, you just— you look really nice, that’s all.” 

Harry, who had earlier that morning chased a reportedly dangerous goose around the local children’s park and was pretty sure he still had dirt on his cheek from an unsuccessful attempt at catching it, looked at Louis doubtfully. “Sure I do,” he said with a snort. 

Louis let out a sharp breath. “No, I— I really mean it, Harry, I—“ He grabbed Harry’s hand as he let out a short groan. “I mean, you— I mean—“

Suddenly, he lifted himself partway out of the chair and lowered himself to the ground on one knee. 

 

They were married in the late summer, when Louis’s school was on break and tourist season was near enough to its end that Harry could get time off from the ranger’s station.

They entered the wedding hall from opposite sides of the room and made their way simultaneously to the altar. Harry started crying as soon as he saw Louis, and Louis started not long after, and kept crying until they said “I do”. After exchanging a kiss, they turned to face their friends and family. Harry spotted their mums, sat side-by-side in the front row, sobbing and hugging each other. 

The whole town had turned up for the wedding, or at least it felt that way to Harry. At the reception, he and Louis greeted at least 4 of his elementary teachers, the man who’d given him guitar lessons in high school, several of Louis’s students’ parents, and two of the baristas from the café where they’d gotten engaged. It was amazing to see how many people they knew. 

After most of the guests had left and Harry and Louis were thanking the caterers and DJ they’d hired, they were approached by Harry’s parents. Harry’s mum held a cream envelope in her hand, which she passed to Louis. It was heavier than he’d expected. 

“I kept this separate from the rest of the gifts because I wanted to be sure you’d open it tonight,” she explained.

Louis slipped a finger under the flap and ripped the envelope open. As he tried to pull the card out, his finger touched something cold. He shook the envelope and a small silver key dropped into his hand. He furrowed his eyebrows at Anne, then pulled out what turned out not to be a card, but a small stack of papers. Louis gasped. 

“What?” Harry asked. “What is it?” 

“It— It’s—“ Louis seemed to be in shock. 

“It’s the deed to the house,” Anne answered. Harry gasped and tried to speak, but she continued on. “You’re taking it. I don’t care if you don’t live there, but you two are the owners and I won’t have it any other way. We have the condo, so we don’t need it any more, and if you’re going to have kids you won’t have any room in that tiny apartment you have now.” 

“Take good care of it,” Harry’s dad said to them. The four exchanged hugs, and then Louis and Harry were on their own, still dazed. 

“A house,” Harry whispered. “We own a house.” 

 

They passed the keys to the apartment off to Louis’s family, who promised to make sure their wedding gifts ended up okay. 

Then they went home. 

To their very own house. 

 

They parked outside, the nose of Louis’s blue truck facing the porch. They sat in the car for a bit, the engine turned off, still in their dress shirts and pants, taking it all in. Neither of them had been to the house since Harry’s parents had moved to a condo closer to town about 3 years previous. 

“Can you believe it’s been 15 years since we met?” Harry asked. “Right here, in that very house.” 

“In our house,” Louis responded. 

“Our house,” Harry answered. “Can you see it?” 

“See what?” Louis asked. 

“The future. Sitting in those chairs,” he gestured to the rocking chairs on the porch, which had been carved by his grandfather as a wedding gift to his grandmother, “watching our kids run around, drinking lemonade.” 

“Our kids,” Louis said. “Holding our babies, showing them the sunrise, the sunset, the stars.” 

“I love you,” said Harry. “I love you so much.” 

 

On their 65th wedding anniversary, their granddaughter buys them a star, because “it’ll last almost as long as your love”. When it’s dark out, their granddaughter’s 7-year-old runs outside with their telescope to try to find the star. 

“Do you want to go try to see our star?” Louis asks. 

“I think I’m alright,” answers Harry, looking straight into Louis’s eyes. “I’ve got all the stars I need right here.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so, ironic that the lyrics for v3 are “a few years had gone and come around” because it has been a few years since I updated this. For a while, I didn’t expect to ever finish this. I’m not interested in this fandom anymore, and I don’t plan to write anything for this fandom again.  
> That said, this fic is very dear to me and I was randomly inspired this evening to finish it. So I did.  
> The continuity between chapters is probably shit (i mean, no, it’s intentional, and shows the passage of time!!), and if I’d write this fic again it would be very different. I have an awkward mix of British and American English. The characterization is basically nonexistent. That said, I’m not going to change it (unless I have incorrect spelling or grammar).  
> On that note, if you notice any grammar errors please let me know.  
> I hope you enjoyed the fic!! Comments n kudos appreciated. Hmu on tumblr I’m [prof-rjlupin](%E2%80%9Cprof-rjlupin.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D)

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a oneshot. ?


End file.
